© Virginia Lowe, 2001
YABBY by Virginia Lowe
Text
PAGE 1
Yabby
/Notes on illustration and design
Half-title -small picture of yabby and title
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Yabby, by Virginia Lowe / Full page illustration incorporating title,publication details
PAGES 4/5
Snug in my mud homehole,I lie in wait for food floating by
water weed, insect larvae,
delicious nameless wriggling things. /
Yabby in hole - the entrance makes a little muddy mountain
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Then suddenly appearssomething new and strange -
something that smells wild and wonderful!
I lunge and snatch
Mine! / Yabby and meat on string, and human feet through the water in the background thematically, links with leg and foot on tram, later...
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But surprise!As I grasp the morsel it streaks upwards
like a bubble from disturbed ooze.
Up, up, to the mirrorsurface
it rises and I rise with it,
till together we break
through the barrier
and flash into the bright hot air above. / Being pulled up - showing the meniscus from below, Yabby's point of view, with the Yabby's reflection on it. And perhaps showing how the meniscus bulges outwards, is distorted, as the Yabby (and the meat) reach the surface
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A hard bright coloured thingsurrounds me -
claws cannot grip.
Panic!
My home-hole is gone
and the smooth water
though there on the bottom
there is at least
a little comforting mud. / Yabby in the bottom of the bucket, possibly with human hands or a head looking in
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Beyond the rim there loom two beingsimpossibly high like trees,
Now muddy water sloshes over me soothing my gills,
and a bumping begins.
When my pond water has been churned
by a creature racing through
sometimes I have been rocked and bumped like this. / Two children - probably a boy and a girl - from the perspective of the yabby looking upwards, seeming to reach the sky.
The children scoop some water into the bucket and begin walking.
Possibly "memory" of dog spashing joyously in pool.
[could be two or three separate pictures]
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Then something enormous!Harsh green and yellow with thunderous vibrations. /
On the street - a tram is approaching
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Nothing is solid anymore.Vibrations, bumping, jerking
until suddenly the hard bright walls
are gone. / Children looking abstracted out window of tram, bucket is in the process of tipping, unnoticed.
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Freedom!But where is the pond
and my snug home-hole? / The underneath of the tram seats, various feet hanging down, yabby off exploring
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Perhaps if I climb this branchI can find the water? / On the shoe of man, as yet unnoticed
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/ Wordless now on the leg a hairy maleleg, which is shaking to get it off. Anger from the conductor. Consternation, or amusement, from the children and other passengers
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This branch is not safe,it is shaking wildly
there must be wind blowing,
though I can't feel it.
High-pitched vibrations, very strong
hurting my receptors.
But now I am caught from behind.
I try to nip, but my claws just cannot reach
and I let go. / [The vibrations are the man yelling, and others shouting or laughing.]
Child's hand taking Yabby from the leg. In background, Conductor pointing off the tram.
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The hard bright walls surround me and the bumping starts again. The muddy water has gone and my gills feel hot and dry. / Children walking away with bucket, tram in the background. Could be from the point of view of the yabby peering out again.PAGES 28/29
A familiar smell, a wonderful sight!The homepond - / Children back at pond, with the bucket
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and my homehole, safe and secure. /Swimming back underwater to the hole-mountain.
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[A paragraph on the yabby, explaining that they can live out of water, but like to keep their gills damp. They travel out of the water on damp nights and even days sometimes, so could have seen, could have known, trees and wind. They can't hear, only sense vibrations, but they can sense these in lots of different ways.]